You no longer have to spend hours searching around trying to find the best or cheapest public liability insurance policy for your business. Our online system will check and compare several trusted insurers to provide you with the most competitive quote!

You can pay online using a credit or debit card or, for higher premiums, you can usually spread the cost across the year by paying via direct debit which is interest free with certain insurers. Your policy documents will be made available immediately should you need to print, email or show them to anyone wanting to see that you are covered.

What Is Public Liability Insurance?

Public liability insurance provides financial protection to the Insured for any compensation they are held legally liable for in respect of bodily injury caused to a member of the public or any damage caused to third-party property. It also provides the financial assistance towards the legal costs associated with defending you and your business in such circumstances.

What Does Public Liability Insurance Cover?

Public liability insurance indemnifies you or your business against any injury or damage you might cause to people or their property during the course of your occupation. An example of this could be that you are a plumber working in a property, you put your tool box behind you and your customer trips over the box and injures themselves. Alternatively you could accidentally break a pipe which then causes extensive water damage to the customer’s property. In each and every case, you would need to be proved negligent in your actions or legally responsible for the injury/damage caused. If a claim is made against you and the insurer feels you are not liable, they will also provide the legal costs necessary to defend your position.

Whilst most people will opt for an indemnity level of £1,000,000, Ashburnham can also provide £2,000,000, £5,000,000 and £10,000,000 cover if required.

Who Needs Public Liability Insurance?

Although public liability insurance is not a legal requirement, it has become increasingly essential to each and every business to have. A majority of jobs now require evidence of appropriate public liability cover before they are allowed to proceed. For example, most local councils will want to see proof of £5 million or £10 million cover if you are to do any work for them. If your trade has any involvement with the public then this cover should be a top priority as it may only take a second for an incident to happen which could result in a large financial claim against you or your company. A policy can be taken out by individuals, self­-employed workers and small businesses that wish to reduce the financial risk of paying out for any accidents and damages that they may be liable for.

A few other reasons you may need public liability insurance is if you sub­contract for a company then it is very likely they would insist on you providing proof of cover before they release payment to yourself. Also, if you have employees, you legally require employers liability insurance which can normally only be added to an existing public liability policy.

How Much Does Public Liability Insurance Cost?

Prices start at just £40 per year for £1,000,000 cover for a manual tradesman but will increase depending on your trade, how much cover you require and how many people are in the business. A one man builder, bricklayer, carpenter, joiner, etc. would all be pretty low down the list in terms of price due to their relative low risk although a limited company with over 10 people working as either lift engineers, shuttering & formworkers, steel fabricators, roofers, tree surgeons, etc. could easily take the premium into 3 or 4 figures due to the higher risks involved. We will happily give you a no obligation quotation based on your individual circumstances.

Where Can I Get A Public Liability Insurance Quote?

To get an online quote, simply follow the “Get Quote” button found on this page. Alternatively, you can call our office to discuss your specific requirements. The quotation begins with a few questions with regards to you and your occupation followed by the cover you would like on your liability insurance policy.

Next you will be asked to enter any claim history, obviously if you have made no claims then you can skip this section. Liability insurance claims can often result in no quotation being provided due to most insurers requiring a referral if a proposer has a claims history.

Be sure to read all the terms and conditions provided along with any special endorsements applied to your policy.